Television
February 20, 2014
Warner Bros. Television Launches its First-Ever Directors’ Workshop
(February 20, 2014 – Burbank, CA) – Warner Bros. Television announced today the launch of its first-ever Warner Bros. Television Directors’ Workshop, a new studio initiative designed to provide up-and-coming directors with the opportunity to break into primetime television. Aiming to prepare elite helming talent for the transition to episodic TV, the innovative new program joins the long-running and highly successful Warner Bros. Television Writers’ Workshop as well as the Studio’s Fresh Ink Initiative as creative components of the newly formed Warner Bros. Television Workshop, developing the future of television.
The Directors’ Workshop is currently taking applications for the inaugural 2014 session. Interested directors can submit their current resume, a short composition and letters of recommendation for consideration. Competitive candidates will have an established portfolio of features, music videos or national commercials. More information about the program, eligibility and the submission process is available at http://televisionworkshop.warnerbros.com.
The Warner Bros. Television Directors Workshop features multiple components, all geared towards preparing directors for a successful career in television, with the backdrop of active television series sets as the learning environment, and top TV helmers, cinematographers and showrunners as instructors. Those selected to the program will have the opportunity to participate in a workshop that is unprecedented and unparalleled in the industry.
Built around a 12-week Master Class taught by esteemed director/author Bethany Rooney and featuring current industry professionals as guest speakers, the WBTV Directors’ Workshop will run from May 31–August 23, with weekly meetings each Saturday on the Warner Bros. Studios lot in Burbank, Calif. Each of the weekly sessions will teach a new skill essential for excelling through pre-production, shooting and post-production. Additional optional components include cinematography workshops, acting classes and the opportunity to shadow directors on an episode of a Warner Bros. show.
The Directors’ Workshop continues the Warner Bros. Television Workshop’s commitment to discovering and nurturing emerging creative talent. For more than 30 years, the Warner Bros. Television Writers’ Workshop has been the premier program for aspiring writers looking to start and/or further their television careers. The list of Writers’ Workshop alumni who have gone on to successful work in the industry includes Terence Winter (“Boardwalk Empire,” “The Sopranos,” “The Wolf of Wall Street”), Marc Cherry (“Desperate Housewives”), Greg Garcia (“My Name Is Earl”) and Felicia Henderson (“Soul Food”), to name just a few. Each year, the Writers’ Workshop selects up to 10 participants from more than 2,000 submissions and gives them opportunities to engage with Warner Bros. Television’s top writers and executives, all with the ultimate goal of earning them a staff position on a Warner Bros.–produced television show.
In partnership with NAACP and supervised by the Warner Bros. Television Workshop, Warner Bros. Television Group’s Fresh Ink initiative is dedicated to seeking out fresh, new diverse voices from within the creative community, with the goal of developing comedy and drama ideas from women and ethnic minority writers into viable pilot scripts for sale to broadcast and cable networks. The only requirements for writers to develop ideas under the Fresh Ink banner is that they be women or of an ethnic minority and not have staffed over the producer level on a television show. Additionally, the writers must be submitted by an agent or manager. Recently, Fresh Ink program participant Albert Kim went on to become a writer/producer for the WBTV drama series “Nikita” and is now developing projects of his own.
For more information on any or all of these programs, please contact televisionworkshop@warnerbros.com
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